| Family Latimeriidae - Gombessa | ||||
| Order | : | Coelacanthiformes |
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| Class | : | Coelacanthi | ||
| No. in FishBase | : | Genera : 1 | Species : 2 Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes | ||
| Environment | : | Fresh : No | Brackish : No | Marine : Yes | ||
| Division | : | Marine | ||
| Aquarium | : | none | ||
| First Fossil Record | : | upper Permian | Ref. Balon, E.K., M.N. Bruton and H. Fricke 1988 | |
| Remark | : | Distribution: South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar and Comoros archipelago. Recently a second species has been discovered in Indonesia. Body robust, covered with large, imbricate bony scales; the exposed part of each scale armoured with hard tooth-like tubercles. Second dorsal, anal and paired fins lobate, projecting from body on a muscular peduncle containing a series of cartilaginous skeletal elements; caudal fin broadly rounded, with a small, projecting midlateral lobe with the rays articulating directly to the end of the notochord; first dorsal fin folding like a fan, the membrane supported by 8 spinulose bony rays; fin rays unbranched; caudal fin rays spinulose. Skeleton mostly cartilaginous; vertebrae rudimentary, the spinal cord supported by a large, hollow, thick-walled notochord (the embryonic precursor of vertebral centra in most fishes and other vertebrates) which is filled with fluid; neural and haemal spines ossified (bony) and attached directly to notochord. Ribs absent. Swimbladder well developed, extending the length of abdominal cavity, and filled with fat. Ovoviviparous livebearers which produce 19-59 eggs and about 5 young. Eggs can attain a diameter of 9 cm. In the oviduct the young can reach about 33 cm total length. Adults with maximum length of 1.8 m. Coelacanths live on steep steep rocky shores, sheltering in caves during the day (often in groups) and foraging singly over open substrates at night. Preferred depth 180-220 m, temperature 16-23 C°. They are long-lived, slow-growing, epibenthic drift-predators of fish and squid. Their main enemies are likely to be large sharks. An inventory of all known specimens lists over 170 specimens that have been caught off the Comoros since 1952 (Bruton & Coutouvidis, 1991). | ||
| Etymology | : | Derived from {Miss Courtenay Latimer}, worker of East London Museum; she took care of the type specimen. ( Ref. 45335). | ||
| Reproductive guild | : | bearers | ||
| Typical activity level | : | sluggish | ||
Main Ref. |
: | Bruton, M.N. 1991 | ||
| Coordinator | : | |||
Deep Fin Classification
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: | Osteichthyes | Sarcopterygi | Coelacanthimorpha | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Coelacanthiformes | | | Latimeriidae | ||
Important recommendation:
The list below must not be used as an authority reference synonymy list like those found in scientific published revisions, which must be the source to be used and cited eventually when they exist.
Rather, it reflects the current content of FishBase, and the progress with respect to synchronization with the Catalog of Fishes. However, we think it can be useful for users to assess the quality of information in FishBase, to start new work on the family, or to cross-check with other lists.
But we appreciate to be cited in publications when this list has been of any working value. In particular, for published scientific, we suggest then to cite it in the Material and Method section as a useful tool to conduct the research, but again, not as a taxonomic or nomenclatural authority reference.
Unless it is explicitly precised, the list is not complete, please search all original names published for the family in the Catalog of Fishes (genera, species), including those with uncertain or unknown status, that are not included in FishBase when they are not attached to a valid species.
This list uses some data from Catalog of Fishes (not shown but used to sort names).
The list ordered as follows:
Please send comments and corrections if you detect errors or missing names.
| Scientifc name | Status | Senior/Junior synonym | Combination |
|---|---|---|---|
Latimeria chalumnae Smith, 1939 | accepted | senior | original |
! Latemaria chalumnae Smith, 1939 | synonym | senior | original |
Malania anjouanae Smith, 1953 | synonym | junior | original |
Latimeria menadoensis Pouyaud, Wirjoatmodjo, Rachmatika, Tjakrawidjaja, Hadiaty & Hadie, 1999 | accepted | senior | original |
